Rufus Reginald Rochester
Rufus Reginald Rochester is a lead character in Daniel Kravitz, Chosen One, a segment of It's All Been Done Radio Hour. He is the head of research for the new U.L.P., having served as a mentor to four Chosen Ones under the old regime. He is practical and smart, as well as brave, and good at research. He has also studied various magics and potions. However, he has let his love for others blind him at times, and loneliness causes him to act in destructive ways. Rufus has hazel eyes ("Get Out"). He wears glasses, is somewhere around fifty years old ("Gather 'Round the Fire"), and has greying temples ("Childish Thing"). He is technologically phobic, owning neither a computer nor smartphone as the series begins ("Wanda's Wand"). Although bookish, he can hold his own in combat with great foes ("Team Work"). He can also use specifically prepared magic in battle situations, even against powerful foes, though it takes him awhile to enact even the simplest of spells ("A Family Affair"). First appearance: Daniel Kravitz, Chosen One #1.01 "Not Bored for Long" Total appearances: 28 (out of 33, as of December 2019) Actor: Shane Stefanchik Episodes Not In Rufus has been a leader character from the first episode of the series. He did not appear in the following episodes: * #2.02 "The Hub" * #2.03 "Blumpkin & Felchy" * #2.04 "The Search" * #2.05 "Desperate Times" * #3.04 "...And Sprinkles on Top" Rufus appeared only in the opening of the following episodes: * #2.07 "Punch" Ragina Rufus' last surviving relative is Ragina, his niece, daughter of his departed sister ("Ragina"). He took custody of her when she was a teenager, and kept his work secret from her, not wanting her to know of the supernatural. He led her to believe he studied history as a research associate at Oxford. By the time Ragina was a young adult, they barely saw one another. Even when she had lived with Rufus, he was never home, and once she moved out, they would go weeks at a time without speaking. Rufus left Ragina to be a mentor for the U.L.P., a decision he was torn about at the time, and later deeply regretted, especially as her independence led her into things he'd rather she not be involved in. He had vowed that he would reconnect with her once he settled into being a mentor, and take a leave of absence after that to spend more time with her, but this did not happen ("Gather 'Round the Fire"). Rufus knows who Ragina's father is and regards him well ("A Family Affair"). Ragina arrived in town not long after Rufus became Daniel Kravitz's mentor, and Rufus was thrilled to have her back. Unfortunately, it turned out that Ragina had gotten into magics herself and now served the Ultimate Evil, which she insisted was not actually evil. Ragina attempted to persuade Rufus, Daniel, and the others to help her take down the U.L.P., but they refused. Rufus was unable to hurt Ragina, and she escaped ("A Family Affair"). Ragina later returned after Rufus learned of the U.L.P.'s corruption to assist in the fight against the organization. While he goals aligned with Rufus', her methods did not and she tried to kill a lot of people, seemingly not caring if Rufus was collateral damage. This, despite confessing that she would be sad to see him die shortly before the final battle. Rufus' niece is still out in the world somewhere, and he holds out hope that someday they might reconcile. Academic Rufus considered himself to be an academic at heart, and joined the U.L.P. with that in mind. He assisted with research and helped find Chosen Ones, as well as did much of the organizational work for the society, including ranking potential mentors. In service to his study, Rufus collected lots of books, keeping them all over every room of his apartment. One such book was known to be titled Irish Mystical Arts 1092-1347. He had difficulty locating it when heading out to be a mentor, but it is unknown if he found it or what its significance was ("Gather 'Round the Fire"). At some point, Rufus did get involved in some dangerous activities. He saved the life of Henri Longbottom twice (and Henri saved Rufus once) ("They're Back!"). U.L.P. Mentor In late 2013, Rufus was voted to become a mentor for the U.L.P. despite being, in his own estimation, the twenty-seventh most qualified out of thirty-one members. He was reluctant to take on this role, believing himself to be more the academic sort, but eventually agreed with the confidence of the organization's leadership behind him ("Gather 'Round the Fire"). Matt Alborough Rufus’ first assigned Chosen One was Matt, a twenty-two-year-old in South Africa. Rufus was nervous to be out doing fieldwork, but Matt was naturally warm and without friends when tapped, having recently moved, and so Rufus filled that hole for him. Rufus even dared imagine that Matt might make a good match for Ragina, whom he worried about leaving alone, and thought they might form a nice family. Unfortunately, Rufus let the friendship get in the way of training, and didn't properly prepare Matt. Only a few months after Rufus arrived, Matt faced Lazar, a hulking dinosaur of a creature, who easily killed him. Rufus had tried to convince Matt to run and hide, but Matt refused to abandon duty or let Rufus down. Rufus knew he couldn't match Lazar in physical combat, and fled himself. He would be deeply ashamed of his actions and bothers by Matt's fate for years to come. Fu Miu After a few months back at the U.L.P., during which Rufus sequestered himself away from his fellows, and endured the most scorn from Alexis, who was still sore about Rufus being picked over him to be mentor, Rufus was sent to his next assignment in Macau. Miu, then twenty-seven, did not take well to Rufus showing up, her upbringing having taught her to hate men. He also wasn’t in any place to be warm towards her, so spent months just hanging around and arguing, chasing her down when she tried to move around the city. Luckily, Rufus had also been physically training for physical combat in secret. He was determined not to repeat his mistake with Matt, and thus when Miu was corned in an alley by a particularly hideous baddie, sort of an upright centipede with the face of a dragon, Rufus was able to come to her defense and save her. When he asked nothing in return, and refused to take sex as payment, she grew to have respect for him and begrudgingly began training with him. Together, they became relatively formidable, but Rufus made sure to keep things purely professional, never to befriend her. He didn’t ask what she did in her off-time, and she never offered. They stopped a number of foes and did their jobs, but that was it. He was probably the best Mentor the U.L.P. had seen in quite a while, and Miu outlived most Chosen Ones. Unfortunately, Miu discovered that Rufus had taken up with a monster named Sheila. Trust shattered, she ran away to Monaco. It took Rufus months to track her down, and when he finally did, she was dying after having barely won a fight with a manticore. He tried to apologize on her death bed, but she would not accept it and she passed away, never having forgiven him. Following this second failure, Rufus took another extended stay at U.L.P. headquarters, again hidden away from his fellows. Chandler Leclerc It wasn’t easy to convince Rufus he needed to go be a mentor again, and Alexis was extremely upset that Rufus was being given yet another chance. But eventually, the next Chosen One was found and Rufus was persuaded to go to him in France. Chandler was a bookworm and pacifist who kept to himself as much as possible. Rufus wondered if Chandler being chosen was a mistake, and even contacted the U.L.P. for confirmation, but Chandler was, indeed, the next Chosen One. Rufus tried to approach him to fill him in on his history, but Chandler was frightened and attempted to get away several times. After a couple of days, Rufus cornered him and made him learn the truth. Needless to say, training did not go well. There was enough of a spark to convince Rufus that Chandler was the correct Chosen One, but Chandler never got over his fears, believing himself to be not worthy, and sure he had done something to piss God off and this was his punishment. Chandler’s first major confrontation was with a sentient piece of toast with a mustache and beret, a relatively minor monster, as such things go. Still, Chandler could not bring himself to truly fight back, and was killed by the toast. It took Rufus less than thirty seconds to kill the toast in return. Daniel Kravitz Rufus' fourth Chosen One was Daniel Kravitz, an American antique store owner, who Rufus went to in the summer of 2015. While Daniel resisted Rufus as much as the others had, Daniel had something they did not: a best friend. Through Abby's urging, Daniel not only accepted Rufus, but built a group who could fight the evil beings together. Daniel's first foe was a worm creature with teeth and pincers of a type Rufus had never seen before and knew nothing about ("Get Out"). After Rufus' niece, Ragina, was revealed to be working for the Ultimate Evil, Rufus fled, giving up his spot as Daniel's mentor and resigning from the U.L.P. It is unknown where Rufus was for the first few months after the fight, but a few weeks before Christmas, he moved in with his monster ex-girlfriend, Sheila (see below; "Gather 'Round the Fire"). Before the end of the year, Rufus left Sheila's and bounced around many places for more than five months, looking for Ragina with the hopes of saving her ("They're Back!") It is unknown if Rufus followed all the U.L.P. rules prior to working with Daniel, but he did bend many of them for his fourth Chosen One. The most serious was when Rufus left Abby Reynolds out of his reports because he knew his superiors would frown upon Daniel being involved with anyone ("The Hub"). Post-Mentor After searching in vain for Ragina for several months, Rufus learned that the U.L.P., or at least its leadership, had gone rotten and needed to be taken down. In fact, they'd tried to kill Rufus repeatedly, although he didn't see the pattern until later ("They're Back!"). Rufus returned to Brightside to get Alexis Augustus Armentrout's help in accessing U.L.P. records and recurited Daniel and the others to help ("Betrayed"). Even after leaving the U.L.P., Rufus still believed in the organization. He supposed Alexis Augustus Armentrout when many thought the younger man might be corrupt, too. Rufus also made it his goal to rebuild a new U.L.P. that served the values Rufus believed to be core to the group's mission, especially after they sent the ghosts of his former Chosen Ones to try to force him to commit suicide ("A Rufus Carol"). Rufus was instrumental in taking down the U.L.P., his former employer. Rufus stayed on to help rebuild the U.L.P., serving as a researcher, organizer of texts, and teacher to the new recruits. Romance While serving as mentor to Miu Fu, his second Chosen One, Rufus met Sheila, a monster. Sheila took an interest in him, and Rufus was feeling just isolated and drunk enough to accept the interest. They engaged in a mutually destructive romance that Rufus wanted out of, but couldn't escape per threat of bodily harm. Luckily, Sheila's young children ate their timid gnome father that she’d left them in the care of in America, and she had to return to them. She did not insist that Rufus accompany her home, and thus he was finally free of her. While serving as mentor to Daniel Kravitz, Rufus met a furniture store owner named Nan. They began dating in secret. Rufus finally worked up the courage to introduce her to Daniel and Abby, but it was at that moment that things got bad with Ragina. Following his niece attacking, Rufus went back to Sheila. Rufus stayed with Sheila for a while, wallowing in darkness. Eventually, though, he escaped in the night ("Gather 'Round the Fire"). Substitute Performer Shane was not available to play Rufus in a re-run of "Get Out" at the Columbus Podcast Festival in 2018. He had been at the show, but left early to perform in another show. Joe Morales played Rufus in that episode.